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Company Profile

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Started business since 1937, the family-owned Wen Ken Group has more than 60 years of experience in research and development, production and marketing of marine biotechnology extract ingredients, traditional health drinks, health and skin care products, and pharmaceuticals in Southeast Asia and South Asia.

It is Wen Ken's aim to serve the community by reducing total health-care costs and promoting healthy living for people around the world with its natural health products. Wen Ken's existing factories and offices in South-east Asia cover a total land area of more than 40,000 square meters and employ a dedicated workforce of more than 1,000 employees.

The well equipped, fully automated manufacturing facilities produce a wide range of consumer products. Wen Ken is committed to the highest standard of hygiene and quality control. Most of its manufacturing facilities operate at GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards, awarded by the governments of the respective countries. Our team of professionals, including biochemists,pharmacists, food technologists, chemists and microbiologists, believe in quality assurance. With several decades of experience in their respective areas of specification, they are responsible for the safety, quality and efficacy of the final products.

Our Mission

To enhance the value of stakeholders in the healthcare business through trust and care.

Our Vision

To become a leading and innovative healthcare organization in Southeast Asia through dynamic leadership, teamwork, innovation and care for the community.

Our History

The Wen Ken Group, manufacturers and suppliers of the famous Three Legs Brand of OTC and traditional household pharmaceuticals, had humble beginnings.

When the company was founded in 1937, members of the four Singaporean Chinese families who started it would load up suitcases with their secret traditional recipes of the Three Legs products, and set off on foot to deliver to their customers.

Later, the families had it easier, as they invested in delivery vans-symbols of the group's success and growth.

Since then, each generation has contributed to the remarkable growth of the Wen Ken Group, so that it is now one of the largest and most respected OTC and traditional medicine companies in Asia, with a customer base of over one billion people.

1930s - The Product Era

Wen Ken was founded with the aim of catering to the basic healthcare needs of the mass market in what was then colonial Malaya.

The founders of the group focused on products that were in high demand such as headache powder, cough syrup and cooling water, all of them marketed under the Three Legs logo at affordable prices.

1940s - The Production Era

After the Second World War, Wen Ken's founding families found that demand for their products had increased to the point that they were justified in setting up their first factory in Johor Bahru. Making the best use of economies of scale, they managed to pass the cost benefits of their new plant back to the customers.

1950s - 1970s - The Sales Era

This era marked the arrival of Wen Ken's second generation of directors, who expanded the group's marketing and sales network in Singapore and Malaysia, and opened up Sarawak and Sabah. Later, Wen Ken decided to go into the Indonesian markets - its first venture outside Singapore and Malaysia.

It was during this time that Wen Ken started exploiting the Three Legs Brand symbol to advertise its products, erecting dozens of billboards, putting up signage at medical halls, starting to place a few press ads, and even sponsoring "Three Legs" stone benches outside temples.

In 1968, the company decided to open a second manufacturing plant in Petaling Jaya, which transformed it from a shophouse operation to a 250-man enterprise.

1980s - The Marketing Era

This was an era which saw Wen Ken adapting and refining its product design and packaging in subtle ways to suit different markets. This decade also saw the group running more above-the-line advertising - more press ads, and the first commercials on TV and radio, most of them in Mandarin.

A quantum leap forward in production and service levels came in 1980 when the manufacturing process at the company's plants was automated, using the latest technology. At the same time, the Wen Ken Group decided to enter a joint venture in Indonesia.

1990s - The International Era

With the arrival of third generation descendants of the Wen Ken's founding families, the company is currently transforming itself from a significant regional player into an international enterpreneur.

While OTC and traditional medicines continue to be its core products, the group is diversifying into ethical medicines and functional food and drink.

The group has recently opened two new state-of-the-art manufacturing plants - one in Indonesia, and the other in Malaysia - both of which operate at rigorous GMP standards.

While the group has continued to advertise its products strongly in all markets, particularly Indonesia, it has also stated taking its social responsibilities to heart by sponsoring medical seminars and educational activities at schools.